Raid nights
by Nyissa
Summary: To some people online gaming is nothing more than the words describe. To others it meant a life change. (First draft, possible errors in there - Sorry! Will fix it as soon as I find the time to.)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Raid nights

Half past eleven. Since the last four and a half hours I have been sitting in front of my computer playing an online fantasy game. I initially started playing this game about 5 years ago and I have to say I was very dubious about it back then. Although I liked most things that had to do with fantasy, I couldn't really decide whether I liked it or not. This probably resulted from the fact that I had absolutely no clue of what I had to do in the beginning. But, I stuck with the game and after a while got the hang of it. Ever since, I have played nearly every day. I wouldn't say I'm addicted to it, but I just really enjoy the game. One of the reasons why is because it makes me forget real life for a while. It's a totally different world, a fictional world, without all the worries and necessities that were included in my life on planet earth. In the past few years I have also met lots of nice people in this game too, and if I would have met them in real life instead of in this game, yes, I'm pretty sure I would be real good friends with some of them. I even had the privilege to actually meet one of them after I figured out she only lived about 20 miles from me. We decided to meet about 2 years ago and we got along straight away. Her name is Penny and she works as a florist in a little shop a few miles from her house. She has 3 kids and is married to a man called Matt. They are a lovely family and I like to get together with them for a cup of tea. A cup of tea, mostly accompanied by a cigarette; an enjoyable sin to the body. Meeting her for the first time was a very exciting experience. I remember being really nervous but at the same time was also looking forward to meeting her. What did she look in real life? Would she be the same _person_ she is in game? Would we get along in real life just as we do in game? Meeting her, a total _stranger_ at first, is definitely one of my experiences I'll never forget.

Tonight I had been playing in a group of 10 people. We would team up and try to kill as many monsters as possible; hence a raid. Every one of those ten people was part of the same guild. Guild can be understood here in the same way the term was used in the Middle Ages: a guild of bakers, a guild of weapon smiths,… And we were a guild that liked to group up to go raiding. I pretty much knew most of the people in the guild by their first name, but except for Penny and one other girl called Lea, I had never had a private talk with any of them. I would join a guild talk once in a while, but I would never really start a conversation. Much different than in real life. I am quite a social person and like to have some good, long conversations. But in the game I was more the silent link. During raids, for instance. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays we would have a raid night, starting at 7pm. At a quarter to seven I would log on Skype, say 'good evening' to everyone online and except when asked a question I'll just sit in my desk chair silently for 4,5 hours, trying to keep everyone alive; as that is my job in the raid.

Penny on the other hand knew half of the raiding group in real life and talked to pretty much all of them daily.

I glanced once again at the clock which announced 11.32pm. Half past eleven is normally when our raid nights end. And just when I thought we may play a bit longer today I could hear our raid leader through my little Logitech speakers: "Ok guys, I'm going to call it a night. It's half past eleven and some of us need to get up early tomorrow." I wasn't one of them. It was summer holiday, which for a teacher meant… summer holidays. I could have a lay in, wake up somewhere in the early afternoon hours and do pretty much nothing until it would be 7pm again, raiding time.

Our raid leader, called Scott, thanked everyone for coming and made the announcement that we would finish this raid tomorrow night. I thanked him for the invite to the raid and logged off Skype. I brought my character back to the main city and said goodnight in guild chat. Just before I hit the log out button a chat window popped up. A message from Scott saying: "Thank you for coming." I simply typed back: "No worries, see you tomorrow. Goodnight." Of course the 'see you tomorrow' referred rather to seeing his character online tomorrow evening than seeing him. I logged off, switched my PC off and went to the kitchen to make myself yet another cup of tea. Whilst the tea was brewing I ran quickly into the bathroom to relieve myself from the pressure from the last 3 cups of tea I had drunk during the raid. Back in the kitchen I squeezed the teabag at least a dozen times before throwing it in the bin and poured in some milk. I put the can of milk back in my fridge, walked with my cup of tea to the window closest to my bed and sat down on the little padded chair that stood with its back against the sill. I opened the window wide and let the cool night air come in and fill my apartment. With legs crossed towards the wall I twisted my upper body in an effort to grab my pack of Benson & Hedges that were lying on my bedside table behind me. Holding my cup of tea in my left hand I opened the pack of cigarettes with my right and pulled one of them out with my lips. Throwing the pack behind me on my bed I once more twisted my upper body to this time grab the lighter which was lying on my bedside table too. I lit the cigarette and inhaled deep enough to make my lungs burn, welcoming the smoke, before I blew little puffs into the night sky.

It was a very clear night and a gazillion stars were visible. I liked looking at the stars. In my cupboard underneath a big pile of clothes I even had a small telescope which I was pretty proud of. Once in a while when I could be bothered to actually put it up and align it with the night sky, I've always thought it amazing how far you could look into space through a clever little instrument like that. But tonight was not such a night. I was more than happy just sitting on my bedroom chair, my cup of tea in one hand and my cigarette in the other. Whilst gazing into the sky and blowing some more toxic smoke into the air, I recalled tonight's raid. I thought I had done pretty well. No one died, except when the whole group got killed by a monster and in the 4,5 hours raiding we managed to kill six bosses. The Skype chat had been very entertaining too. There were the standard jokes, the mocking of each other's playing skills, the occasional friendly meanness and as always there was the little kinky chat as it was today about old lady's fannies. There were also the serious moments, when everyone just focused on what they had to do in game and the cheers of joy whenever we killed yet another boss. And all these things together resulted into a very enjoyable raiding night.

After I took my last drag of the cigarette I stubbed it in my ashtray on the window sill. I emptied my cup of tea, went to the kitchen, put it in the sink and made my way to the bathroom. I turned the taps of the shower on and not being fast enough to withdraw my arm it got a shot of cold water. I took two towels, a big one to wrap my hair in and a small one to dry my body, undressed and stepped into the shower. The water was hot, a little bit too hot, but I didn't mind. I liked the tingling feeling of hot water running over my skin. I closed my eyes before soaking my hair. Showers, in my opinion, had something relaxing. It didn't matter how I felt, were it sad, upset, angry, nervous,… taking a shower would always calm me down. Moreover it gave me a clear head to think about things more properly. And if any random idea would pop in my mind, the best ones would always appear whilst in the shower.

After I finished, big towel wrapped around my head, probably done better than one of those turban wearing people, I put on some comfortable black boxer shorts and a T-shirt which was at least four seizes too big; hence my sleeping wear.

In my bedroom - that is to say my apartment was pretty much just one big room, so bedroom would rather refer to the part where my bed stood - I took off the big towel, plugged in my hairdryer and flung my head upside down. I looked at my hair dangling in front of my eyes and realised I really would have to go to the hairdressers very soon. The longest bits nearly touched the floor. Once my hair was dry I left the hairdryer on the floor where I had stood and crawled into bed. Yes, I was definitely tired, but it was very muggy too and I doubted whether sleep would find me soon.

I opened my eyes, knowing that I hadn't really been asleep yet. I just couldn't find a comfortable spot in my king size bed, nor could I decide whether to lay under the blanket, on top of it or with one leg tugged under and the other one on top. So I decided to get up, sit on my chair at the window and smoke another cigarette. I hated these nights, being tired, but not able to catch any sleep. I had smoked through half of my cigarette when I walked to my little desk and switched on my computer. Once fully started, I double clicked on the game icon, entered my password and logged on. I opened my friends list and as expected there was no one online anymore. The game was dead. Not literally of course, but the amount of people online was minimal. Moreover the amount of people online I knew equalled zero. Or so I thought. I hit the esc button and was about to click on 'log out' when I saw someone talk in guild chat. "Hello there." I opened the guild window and saw that there was one more person online; Scott. "Hello.", was my simple reply. "Still up at this hour of the night?" Oh dear, I wasn't really the best in talking and conversations in this game and now I had Scott talking to me at two in the morning. I took a deep breath and answered: "Yeah, I couldn't sleep." "Me neither", he replied. Great, … and what now? Am I supposed to still say something? And if yes, what was it I was going to say? I had to admit though, that I was quite happy that he started talking to me in the first place. I'm generally not the person people in guild have little chitchats with. But then again, he might just be talking to me because to him I was the only one online too. I decided to say something, which also resulted in the end of the conversation. "I might try again to get some sleep though. I don't want to look like a drunk on drugs tomorrow."

What was wrong with me? I just told him that without enough sleep I look like a drunk on drugs the next morning; great! "Haha, okay, goodnight you junky :)", Scott replied. _Junky_? Then again, I think my little comment must have at least made him smile; good enough for me. I quickly typed "Goodnight Scott", and logged off.

After I logged and switched my computer off I still sat smiling in my desk chair. Scott was one of those people you just had to like. Or at least he was a person I liked. He wasn't much of a great talker in guild either, nevertheless he was very sociable and had a good sense of humour. During raids he would mostly save his words for instructions, but whenever he did make a funny comment or a joke, it sure had the tear-factor. Sometimes I tried to imagine what he would be like in real life. And although I couldn't really put my finger on anything specific, I was pretty sure he would be a kind, warm-hearted person. Due to the fact that my idea of Penny in real life had been quite accurate I had enough faith in my judgement to stick with these ideas of Scott.

I hopped back into bed and as soon as my face hit the pillow I fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up to the bubble message sound of my phone. With squinting eyes I tried to find my phone, which had to be somewhere in the bed. Once I found it I pressed the home button and checked the time. It said 13.47. Oh dear, had I really slept this long? The message was from Penny: 'Heya, I finished work early today, I'm on my way to the car. I'll drive pass yours, I count on it you have tea ready when I arrive ;) xx' With a sigh I launched my head back onto the pillow and started calculating how long it would take Penny to get here and how I was going to use that amount of time to make sure I would be ready, including 2 cups of tea, when she would arrive.

I reckoned I would have about twenty to twenty-five minutes before she would knock on my door. I jumped out of my bed and headed for the bathroom. Just as I was about to turn on the sink taps I turned around and ran back to my bed, monkeyed over it and opened the window on the other side. Although I couldn't smell it, because obviously I had spent the last 12 hours sleeping in here, I was pretty sure that the air in here would probably not be the freshest. Walking back to the bathroom something reminded me that I had had a dream last night. Unfortunately I couldn't recall what it was about? Moreover the more I tried to remember, the vaguer it became. Once more I attempted to open the taps and succeeded without any further thought interruptions. I brushed my teeth, washed my face and brushed my hair. In total I had used about 6 minutes of the 20 minutes I had. I ran out of the bathroom to find some clothes to put on. Black leggings, a long grey T-shirt and some grey, long, warm socks to put on my feet it was. I hated having cold feet and I rather did not risk letting them get cold. After I got dressed, I made up my bed and hurried to the kitchen to do the dishes. After those chores were done I had about 5ish minutes left. I still had to do the hovering and make tea. I decided to put on the kettle for tea, and whilst boiling have a quick hoover around my apartment. I was pretty sure I would make it before Penny would knock on my door, until my phone rang. I sprinted to the bed, grabbed my phone and checked who was calling me. Oh I could have known! It was my mum. Somehow she always managed to phone exactly at the moments when I really didn't have the time. Since I left home a year ago my mum called me every single day to make sure I was alright, as she called it: 'all on my own'. One thing she never learned in the 24 years that I have walked planet earth is that I didn't mind being alone. I liked the silent moments on my own in my little apartment. Just me, myself and I, TV running in the background, reading a book, working on my computer, sitting on my padded chair at the window and smoke a cigarette,… Of course that doesn't mean I don't like company, but I didn't mind being alone either.

I had two choices right now: I could pick up the phone have a conversation with her or I could pretend I didn't hear the phone ringing. The first option would definitely make sure tea wouldn't be ready when Penny arrived. The second option though would result in my mum phoning me over and over again, stalking me until I eventually, out of frustration, would pick up the phone. So I decided to pick up the phone and in the meantime finish making tea for when Penny would be here. I reckoned my apartment didn't look too bad, so skipping the hovering it was. I talked to my mum for less than 5 minutes. I reassured her that I was fine and explained that Penny was coming over in a few minutes. She then told me that she and dad were fine and had booked a holiday to Turkey beginning of November to celebrate her birthday.

After she hang up I put down my phone, poured some milk in the cups and put the can back in the fridge. Right on time, cause not a second later there were two loud knocks on my front door. I put the two cups of tea on my little living room table and went to open the door. "Hello Gin! How are you doing?" "Hey Penny, yeah I'm fine, how are you?" She came in, took off her shoes, threw her jacket and handbag on my bed and followed me into the living room area. Whilst she took a seat on my little but very comfortable sofa, I sprinted to the kitchen to get a tin box with biscuits and put them with the teas on the living room table. I took one myself, sat down next to Penny and dunked the end of the biscuit in my tea. "I'm throwing a birthday party for Matt next weekend." She started off. "Although he doesn't like parties, I had to do something for his 30th. Please tell me you are coming?" "Of course I'm coming!" I answered excitedly. "I spoke to Lea," Penny continued, "she is going to try to come to the party too. I already told her you would be there and she is excited to finally meet you." I had already talked to Lea a few times online and she really seemed like a very nice person, so I was looking forward to meeting her too. Thinking of meeting her for the first time brought back memories of when I met Penny and Matt for the first time. Penny talked about all the ideas she had for Matt's party and what preparations she had already done. I offered her my help if she needed any and started brainstorming for a nice birthday present. Whilst deep in thought, sipping my cup of tea she shot at me with a question: "Why did Scott call you junky?" The question made me nearly choke on my tea. I needed a minute to cough up the amount of tea that had entered my lungs before I was capable of answering. At first I just stared at her, wondering how she possibly could have known about my talk with Scott the previous night. Then of course I remembered that she and Scott were very good friends, I real life that is, and I assumed she must have talked to him earlier this morning. "Why?" was the only answer I could provide. It wasn't much of an answer, but it broke the awkward silence whilst Penny kept her eyes locked on mine, her expression questioning. "Well, he called me this morning and I mentioned to him that I would finish work earlier today and come over to you. And when I was about to hang up the phone he said 'say hi to the junky from me if you see her later'. Before I had the chance to ask he continued 'don't ask, but if you need to know ask Ginny later'." And there was the questioning look again. I couldn't believe it, Scott had send a 'hi' to me through Penny! Why was I so happy about this? But before I could think about that, I realised Penny was still waiting for an answer to her question. So I told her about last night. "And yeah that's pretty much why he calls me junky. I already had a feeling last night that the name would stick for a while." Penny sat next to me without saying a word. Her questioning face did change into a smile though. It wasn't an ordinary smile; she was obviously thinking something she wasn't planning on sharing with me. But I didn't really care about that because, … Scott had said 'hi' to me. Not in person, but nevertheless the 'hi' came from him. Penny's smile changed into an audible laughter when I realised that I had a far too happy grin on my face. I quickly averted her sight and took another biscuit from the tin. After two cups of tea each and about the same amount of cigarettes Penny went home. She gave me a big hug and reminded me of Matt's party next weekend before she headed out of my apartment. As I walked back to my sofa I checked the time on my mobile phone; it was 4.30pm. What to do? What to do? I decided to make myself yet another cup of tea, get my bum back on the sofa and do some channel hopping until I would find something worth watching. I had about one and a half hour before I would have to make dinner so I would be ready for when the raid started.

I'd had toasties for dinner and as it was 6.45pm I was sitting in my desk chair; cup of tea freshly brewed standing next to my keyboard and a cigarette alight. I opened Skype and logged on. "Hello everyone." I said through my microphone. "Hello Ginny." A few people replied synchronised. Seven out of the ten people who were joining the raid tonight were already online; including Lea, Penny and Scott. I minimalized the Skype window and logged on to the game. There too, I said my good evenings to everyone in guild chat. I was eagerly waiting to see whether Scott would greet me with 'hi junky' or anything like that, but he didn't. Moreover he hadn't greeted me at all. Disappointed I accepted the group invite Penny had given me and we waited for the last 3 people to log on.

The raid didn't take long at all. Yesterday we had killed 6 bosses in about four hours, so the two bosses there were left to kill today, only took us one hour and we were done. At ten past eight Scott, Penny and Jack, the leaders of our raids, discussed what we were to do for the rest of the night. Unfortunately they couldn't come to an agreement and only a couple of minutes later Scott's voice was audible through my whole apartment: "Sorry guys, but I think we'll call it an early night tonight." As much as I had enjoyed last night's raid, I felt really disappointed about this night. The one hour we had played there had been no talking, no laughing, no nothing. Playing with computer controlled characters would have made no difference to me.

Disappointed I left the group and lit another cigarette. For the next 20 minutes I just sat on my desk chair, drinking my tea and staring in turns at the TV screen and my computer screen. A chat window popped onto my screen; a message from Penny: "Hey hun, what are you doing tomorrow? Fancy coming around for a cup of tea? It's my turn anyways ;)". "Yeah sure! What time?" I asked. "Let's say 4pm? That should give me enough time to sort out kids after work and do the household." Before I could type a reply she continued: "Oh and I also have to tell you something, it's about Scott, but I'll tell tomorrow! I'm off now. Goodnight." How could she do that to me! She knew I was a very curious person, sometimes even more than I should be, and that her last message about the Scott-talk, would keep nagging on my mind until tomorrow four o'clock. "Ok, I'll be there! Goodnight xx" I answered quickly before she logged off. I myself shut the game down, switched the pc off and plunged myself onto the sofa. Well at least I would be able to watch Eastenders today. I closed my eyes, meaning to just rest my eyelids for a second, but instead I dozed off. I woke up again to the theme song of Eastenders. Right on time I thought. I sat up a bit and took the remote control and turned up the volume. At least some good entertainment today. Once again the series ended with a cliff-hanger. Tomorrow, before visiting Penny, I would have to watch the recap of last week to get me up to date with everything that happened this week. Due to the fact I did raid 3nights out of 5 during the week, and there was no Eastenders on Wednesdays, I normally only got one chance a week to watch it and that was Mondays. I decided to have an early night myself, got ready and went to bed. Unfortunately like last night sleep eluded me. This time though it was not the mugginess. Penny's last message kept going through my head. She had to tell me something that concerned Scott. What was it she had to tell me? Would it answer my question why Scott hadn't said hello to me tonight? But then again it couldn't be bad news, because the way Penny put the message she rather sounded excited to tell me. Those and many more questions raced through my mind until finally, sleep did catch up on me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Denial

The next morning I woke up way too early. It was seven thirty and I was wide awake. Knowing that if I would go back to sleep now, I would feel terrible when I would wake up later, I decided to stay up and make myself a cup of tea. After I finished brewing my cup of tea I found myself sitting on my padded chair near the now opened window, smoking a cigarette. Inspecting the cigarette closely I once again realised what a rubbish cigarettes were; and unhealthy on top of that. Yet it would be quite hard for me to quit.

After I had visited the bathroom, taken a shower and got dressed, I checked my e-mails. To my surprise there were four unread ones, including two from school. It was nearly the end of July and my boss had send me a confirmation of how many hours of history and how many hours of English I would be teaching next school year. I read through it quickly without paying attention to much else than the actual hours, because it didn't really matter to me. I loved teaching, English as well as history. And as long as I would be able to teach them both I was one happy teacher. The second e-mail from my boss was a bit less pleasant though. They had already told me at the end of last school year that they were planning to change the books we used for history. Unfortunately, as he explained to me in this e-mail they couldn't find an agreeable alternative to what we had used the last 4 years. So, our brainy headmaster didn't come up with a better idea than to let the teachers write their own books to use for the next school year. Every history teacher was assigned certain centuries to write a school book about. As unpleasant as I thought this e-mail in the beginning, I was pleased to hear that I was assigned the Middle Ages; I very much liked the Middle Ages. Nevertheless it would be a lot of work to write a school book about it. I would have to dig deep through all my history books to come up with a perfect result, because I was definitely not settling for a 'good enough'. We had been given quite some freedom though on how to fill the pages. The only condition was that it had to fit within the national curriculum. I was pretty sure I could manage. After I gave it a few more minutes of thought I was actually quite excited about this assignment. I liked doing things my way. Not because I can't work together with others, but rather because their lack of insight of how to make a history lessons fun. From the beginning I had always been the more unconventional, the 'my way or the highway' kind of history teacher. Still the kids loved my history lessons and for that, I loved them. I was quite proud of the good bond I had with my pupils. Taking into consideration that there were teachers who were actually hated by all students.

On top of that the assignment would give me something to do. I wasn't really bored, because I love reading and I had done a lot of that the last few weeks, but still it would bring some change into the daily routine I was living at the moment. So, after I had gone through the other two e-mails, which seemed to hold no important information for me, I started with scanning through my bookshelves, looking for the history books that were solemnly devoted to the Middle Ages. Once I had a selection of 5 books I took a notepad, my pencil case and together with the five chosen books sat back down at my desk. Whilst intended to spend the rest of the morning working for this assignment, I couldn't help myself and switched on the computer. Just a quick look online wouldn't harm; just to see who's online. And with that 'who' I knew exactly _whom_ I meant, but decided to ignore that fact. As Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory would say: "Ignorance is bliss after all.". Once logged in to the game I opened the guild window. Matt was online and so were Lea and another man called Martin. I felt a little disappointed. With a frown I pushed the feeling away. What was wrong with me? Two days ago I felt happy because Scott had had a little chitchat with me, yesterday I felt down because he hadn't greeted me and now I felt disappointed because he wasn't online at half past eight in the morning? I really had to get my shit together. I know I liked him, in game, but he could be totally different in real life. Moreover, except that his name was Scott I didn't know anything at all about him. I really had to quit this silliness, because it was getting pathetic. Maybe, the thought built up slowly in my mind, it was because it was summer holiday and well, if I really had to admit, this daily routine could get quite boring at some points. Maybe my mind was just looking for something exciting to do and was subconsciously linking this search to my contact with Scott. I liked meeting new people, getting to know them and due to my oh so curious brain, anything related to that would be exciting enough to keep me busy. I settled for this theory and got back to my assignment for work. By lunchtime I had scanned through more or less half of the first book. With a pencil I had marked important sections which might be useful and interesting enough to use during history lessons. I also decided to make up a plan for the other history teachers on how to use this information in class in order to make it fun for the students. Of course I could never force the other teachers to do it 'my way', but I had hope that there would be one or two who were too lazy to make their own interesting lessons and would pick some of my ideas. The fact that the percentage of fun history lessons would increase, even if it was minimal, was enough to reassure myself that my effort in making this planning wouldn't be in vain.

At a quarter past one in the afternoon I decided to do some shopping before heading to Penny. I hopped in my black Ford Fiesta and drove to Sainsbury's. I picked up a newspaper, fruit, some ham and cheese, bread, a few pots of yoghurt and not to forget, cigarettes. It only took me about 10 minutes to get all the bits and another 5 to get through the queue at the till. Fifteen minutes later I was back in my car starting the engine to get back home. As soon as I stepped into my apartment with two carrier bags around my left arm, I spotted some random fluff on the floor. Right, put the shopping away and do the hovering, as I didn't manage to so yesterday I thought. After that was done I sighed, not really knowing what to do with the rest of the time. It would only be a 15 minute drive to Penny and the clock was telling me that it was only half past two. A reminder raced through my head: shit! Eastenders! I jumped on the sofa and switched the telly on. I had missed about an hour and fifteen minutes.

Four o'clock precisely I arrived at Penny's house. I opened the car door and immediately heard the kids playing in the back garden. It was a nice warm summer day and I figured Matt had put up the paddling pool. I knocked at the front door with my usual knocking pattern and waited for someone to come and open it. Mia, Penny's oldest daughter, was the _someone_. She greeted me with a big hug before telling me that her mum was in the kitchen. "Come on through Ginny! I'm just finishing the teas!" Following the voice I found Penny in her lovely modern fitted kitchen. As soon as I walked into the kitchen I couldn't help myself but look around; something was different, but I couldn't see what it was. Mia stood behind me giggling and I found both of them staring at me with a smile; they knew that I was trying to figure out what had changed. Whatever it was, it was a small change. Or so I thought. "I painted the walls you silly." Penny finally answered my unspoken question. "Oh, yes, now that you say it. But it's not much difference to the previous colour, is it?" I asked, my face in a frown. "No it's a just a tint lighter, but I think it makes to kitchen look much brighter." And I had to admit, so it did. She handed me my cup of tea and we went to the living room. She sat down in her desk chair and as always I would pull a chair from the dining table and sit myself next to her. I looked on her computer screen. Her Facebook page was open and the game was minimalized. So was her Skype window. I had no doubt she was talking to Scott on one of those programmes, if not on all of them. Scott's computer screen probably looked identical to Penny's. That's when I realised that, in theory, I knew Scott as long as I knew Penny. With the slight difference I had never met Scott in real life. For the second time in a very short period I caught myself wondering about the real life Scott. Whilst my mind went from thought back to real life Penny was staring at me. She just always managed to catch me off guard. "How was your day at the shop?" I asked to break the awkward moment. "It was really busy today." Penny started. "I had only opened the shop in the morning, or customers kept coming in. Some even bought my self-made herbal and flower teas. I am really pleased with today's sells." I was happy for her. I knew how hard she had worked to get where she was now. She had started from scratch, with nothing more than the dream of being a florist and having her own flower shop. Her knowledge about flowers was meanwhile legend. She started making her own teas about a year ago and although it was a slow start, the teas were a great success by now.

"Let's have a cigarette with our teas," Penny suggested, "and then I can tell you about Scott." She handed me one of her own cigarettes. My stomach was doing a rollercoaster. After all this waiting, which seemed to me much more than just sixteen hours, she was finally going to tell me whatever it was she wanted to share with me so eagerly. As I felt excitement rush through me, I eased my mind once more with my boredom slash curiosity theory I had established earlier today. "Well, you remember that a few weeks ago Lea had added Scott on Facebook?" I nodded and after this one sentence my intuition started shaping a story. Penny continued: "I spoke to Lea on Skype last night before the raid started. And let's say, I think there is something going on between Lea and Scott." She looked at me with a big grin on her face. I managed an "Oh my God!" and forced an appropriate smile. On the inside though, I felt a sharp stab. Lea and Scott, hm? I didn't know what to think about it. Being honest I didn't know either of them well enough to judge whether they would actually make a nice couple or not. Penny kept talking about them for another 10 minutes and filled me in with some more details Lea had provided her with. For the last few nights Lea and Scott had been talking to each other till the early morning hours and as Lea stated, there was quite some flirting going on from his side. Although I didn't have any proof of why, I felt like Scott wasn't the flirty, straight forward kind of guy. But then again, what did I know about him? Moreover, Lea and Scott didn't live too far from each other. Pretty much the same distance I need to cover to get to Penny's.

Penny and I spent the rest of the time chatting about Matt's upcoming party, the last week's events in Eastenders and to finish the evening we watched Fast and Furious. It was about eleven o'clock when I decided it was time to get back home. I thanked Penny for a lovely day, said my goodbyes to Matt and the kids and headed home.

I flung my apartment door open, dropped my handbag on the bed, which was pretty much right next to the front door, and sat down on the sofa. Tomorrow was Sunday which meant yet another day with nothing to do. But, Sunday's also mean having a lazy day. Although during the holidays, Sundays didn't differ too much from the other weekdays, I liked my lazy Sundays. I wasn't really tired yet, so I decided to find something watchable on TV. After ten minutes of channel hopping though, I had to face the fact that there was absolutely nothing that caught my attention. I walked over to my desk and switched the computer on. I checked my e-mails and had a look on the blogging website Tumblr. I hadn't been on that site for a long while. I was running my own Disney blog there and looking at it now I realised it needed some updating. For the next half hour I did fiddle around with some Disney pictures from Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog and Tangled. With the help of Photoshop I created some nice picture sets and put them on my blog. It didn't take long before other people liked them or even reblogged them. Satisfied and feeling the need for a cigarette I went to my padded chair, sat down and enjoyed a bedtime smoke. It was a very clear night, and if there wouldn't have been all the streetlights, I think I could have seen into another galaxy.

Cigarette put out in the ashtray, I made my way to the bathroom. I would shower tomorrow, but brushing teeth was a must nonetheless. It was passed midnight and I felt quite tired now. When my head finally touched the pillow, I instantly fell asleep.

Three loud knocks woke me up. I looked at my phone which told me it was nine thirty in the morning. It took me a few seconds to realise the knocks had come from my front door. Who would come around on a Sunday morning at nine thirty? I had quickly picked a jumper from my cupboard and put it on before answering the door. "Sandra Johnson?" A tall man in a suit stood in front of me. I had never seen him before and my inner paranoia took over. There was a man standing at my front door on a Sunday morning. He could be a sophisticated burglar or some psychopath who tried to flatter his way into women's houses before assaulting or killing them. I shook my head and remembered he had asked for a Sandra. "No, sorry," I started, "there is no Sandra living here." The man looked at me, puzzled. "Oh, I'm sorry; I must have the wrong address then. I'm sorry to disturb you." I nodded and he turned around to walk away. I had nearly shut the door again, feeling relief, as he turned back towards me: "Excuse me, but isn't this Austin Road 36b?" "Yes, it is," I hesitated, "but I can guarantee you that no Sandra lives here." Not really convinced and trying to get a glimpse into my apartment, he finally decided to leave. I shut the door as quickly as I could and locked it. For two minutes I just stood there, my heart racing, but relieved he had finally gone.

My heart rate dropping back to normal, I trotted to the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea. I definitely wasn't going back to bed anymore. With my cup of tea in my hands I sat down in my sofa and switched the TV on. My head was on speed. What a way to start a Sunday. That did rhyme! I couldn't help myself but giggle every time when I subconsciously made something rhyme. Sad humour of a linguistic… Though, these were the moments when I didn't like living on my own. It was the dark side of my curiosity: paranoia. Probably most people did experience it a few times in their lives, but for me it was a much bigger part. As curious as I was, as paranoid I could be about the smallest of things. That being said, the encounter with this man was more than just a small thing. I mean, imagine what could have happened! As my mind took me on a roller coaster of horrific scenes, I realised I had to calm down, because thinking about what could have happened wasn't going to help me right now and frankly nothing had happened. My mind eased, my body longed for a shower. Unfortunately, the most recent event kept me from going; hence my paranoia. I finished my cup of tea, just to find myself in the kitchen making another one. I really needed to find something else to think about. The TV was showing an advertisement about online dating, stating that nowadays one out of four relationships started online. It immediately made me think of my chat with Penny yesterday. The idea of Lea and Scott maybe becoming a _thing_ still bothered me. I mean, I couldn't come up why they shouldn't be together, but it made me feel, unhappy? I gave it some thought and decided to go with the one and only theory. Bored and trying to find something to keep my mind going equalled Scott. Lea did even fit in too. Because there was a chance now that they may become a couple, the chance of me getting to know Scott better was decreasing. There was no way of getting to know him, without raising Lea's suspicion and I definitely wouldn't chance it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Facebook

I stared at the ceiling for what seemed forever. Good grief, summer holidays could be really boring. Admitting it was nice to have some time for myself to catch up on reading or watch some nice movies, but there's only so much of reading and TV or movie watching a person can do before you get fed up with that too.

I lifted my body off the sofa and walked to the desk, put down my cup of tea next to the keyboard, sat down on the chair and switched on my computer. Once my screen was fully loaded I just stared at it. My eyes went to the game icon on the desktop. One part of me really wanted to log on. There was only one reason to do so though, which made me dismiss the idea immediately. Instead I opened my Facebook. Good lord, I hadn't checked it for maybe 3 days and I had 57 notifications. I clicked on them and scrolled through them without really reading it all. There were loads of Penny posting some new pictures and a few from my friend Liz. Otherwise there were the standard game invites from the most random people, some of them I hadn't even talked to for at least a year. I decided that somewhere in the near future, I would have to go through my friends list and have a good clean up. Apparently I also had a friendship request. I clicked on it and tried to not fall off my chair; I froze. Scott… Scott had sent me a friendship request on Facebook. Not knowing what to do, I just stared at my screen. When my brain finally went from comatose to functioning again I clicked 'accept'. The list on the right hand side told me that he was online at the very moment. I felt the urge to say something, but what was I supposed to say? I definitely wanted to avoid dead end conversations like "Hello, how are you? Yeah, I'm fine thanks, how are you? Yeah good." Dead.

I opened the chat window to Scott and typed "Accepted!" It didn't take long before he replied: "My notifications told me so." It seemed like this was going to be a dead end conversation, because obviously I was the one to say something next, but 1. I had no clue how to reply to that and 2. Even if I would say something, I think I wouldn't get much of a reply, because my friends list showed me that Lea had just come online too. So, I decided to not say anything anymore. I realised I hadn't had a cigarette yet, got up and walked to the window. I lit a Benson and sat down. After only three drags there was a bleeping sound coming from my computer. I recognised the sound immediately; it was the sound Facebook made whenever someone had talked to you in chat. I picked up the ashtray ran back to my desk chair, trying not to trip over anything. It was Scott:

"How are you doing this Sunday morning?"

"Yeah, not too bad. Woke up earlier than I had planned though and a bit bored, but can't complain. How is yourself?"

It was far from the truth, because I was still a bit shaken from this early morning, but that was definitely nothing I was going to share with him.

"I'm fine thank you. You have got nothing to do today?"

"No, never on a Sunday. Sundays are lazy days."

"So, I take it you spend your Sundays running around in PJs all day, lying on the sofa watching TV? Something like that?"

"Pretty much exactly like that. Why? Are your Sundays any more exciting?"

Oh my, I was having a real conversation with Scott, like, for the first time ever! I definitely enjoyed it more than I should have, but I tried to ignore that fact.

"I wouldn't say more exciting, but I definitely have some things to do, like work."

"You work on a Sunday?"

"Yeah I run my own business and sometimes that means working on Sundays too. But I don't mind, I like my work."

"What kind of work do you do? If I'm allowed to ask."

"Of course you can ask. I'm running my own Computer Repair and Constructing business. If people's computers break down, I fix them. If people want a special computer, I build it."

"Wauw, that sounds amazing. I don't know a lot about computers to be honest. I can just about switch mine on, browse on the Internet and start the game."

"It's not that difficult."

"For you it maybe isn't."

"Tell me what you do for a living? If I'm allowed to ask?"

Was he mocking me? At least I was polite. You never know how people think about direct questions. I found myself smiling and feeling quite excited.

"Of course you can ask. I'm a secondary school teacher, teaching English and history."

"English and history? I really liked those subjects back in the days myself. History especially. I do quite a lot of metal detecting."

"Really? That's awesome! I never got the chance to do anything like that. I did join a group of archaeologists once, but wasn't allowed to do anything myself. Just followed them for a day and watched."

"Maybe one day I can show you how a metal detector works and we could search a field for some finds."

This conversation was going really well. My curiosity was getting fed and it seemed like Scott and I had some common interests.

"Thinking a bit far ahead, seen the circumstances, but yeah I would actually love to. I will remind you."

"You do that! And why seen the circumstances?"

"Well, for one, we have never met yet and secondly, up till today, we had never had a proper conversation before."

"It seems like that's going to change from now on."

Did he mean the chatting or the meeting? I figured it didn't even matter, because either one would be fine with me. I didn't really know how to reply and there was a little pause.

"Did you fall asleep?"

"No, why? Could you hear snoring?"

"Haha, no, but you didn't reply anymore and you said you got up earlier than you had planned, so I thought you may be still a bit tired. And talking to a boring person like me probably isn't helping."

"No I'm wide awake at the moment. And don't be silly, you're definitely not a boring person."

"And how would you know that?"

Oh dear, how was I going to answer that one? … 'Because I really do like you, although I don't know a lot about you yet, I find you very interesting and that just proves that you are not boring. I would like to get to know you better if I can be honest.' … Sure, Ginny, way to go!

"The fact that you do metal detecting is already proof enough to me that you are not boring."

"As seems we have a common interest."

"Apparently we do."

"Penny told me about Matt's party next week. Are you going?"

"Of course I'm going. I haven't missed any of their birthday parties the last two years."

"Penny invited me too, but unfortunately I can't come. I've a lot of work at the moment and I have a few jobs I need to catch up on."

A quick glimpse on the friends list told me Lea was still online and it gave me an idea.

"Penny told me Lea is coming too."

"Really? I didn't know that."

Was he considering the invite because I just told him Lea was going to be there? One part of me was getting a little overexcited, the thought of meeting him in a few days made my stomach do a few loops. The other part of me reminded me that if he really was considering, it was only because of the fact that I just told him Lea would be there. I could be so stupid sometimes. I felt my excitement fade away. I glanced one more time at Lea's name in the list. What was I doing? I was doing exactly the thing I had told myself I wouldn't. I reckoned it would be best if I wouldn't tell anyone about my conversation with Scott and I hoped he would do the same. I didn't want to get into trouble with Lea before I had even met her.

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that I have a lot of work to do and really don't have the time."

"You'll get your chance to meet her, sooner or later."

I had to be careful. Though I liked Scott, even more after this conversation, I didn't want to cause any trouble by getting between him and Lea.

"And hopefully to meet you too."

There I was, trying to not get into any troubles and he comes up with a comment like this. Moreover these were the kind of moments when I never knew what to say. He wanted to meet me too. My stomach took a seat in the Saw rollercoaster in Thorpe Park and I felt the need for a cigarette. This conversation was going better than I ever could have imagined and after this comment a part of me didn't even care anymore about Lea. As a matter of fact, they weren't a couple yet. So, in theory, I wasn't doing anything wrong and neither was he.

"Who knows what the future brings."

It was the best I could do. After that Scott told me he had to go to work and we said our goodbyes. I finished my cigarette and reread the whole conversation. I still couldn't believe it; Scott had talked to me. Moreover, he wanted to meet me. I felt excitement and happiness fill my head and fed with this energy I decided to _work_. I took my history books that were still lying on the floor next to my coffee table and continued my work for school.

The next two days I hadn't done much more than do some research for the schoolbook I was designing, drink tea, smoke cigarettes and recall my conversation with Scott far too many times; especially in the evenings before falling asleep. Tuesday evening 6.45pm I logged on to Skype and the game, ready for another raiding night. I hadn't spoken to Scott since last Sunday and since last night I felt like that wasn't going to happen anywhere soon either. Penny had phoned me yesterday to update me on the Lea-Scott status. Lea had told her that there is a big chance Scott and her would be going on a date real soon. At that point I thought it best to keep out of the Scott-business.

The raid had gone well and I had enjoyed the evening. Though, I had to admit, I hadn't enjoyed it as much as I usually would. Why did the whole Scott-thing bother me so much? My curiosity theory I had established a few days ago seemed to make less and less sense, even if it was hard to admit. The advertisement of online dating ran through my head. One out of four relationships started online nowadays. But, was it possible to actually get emotionally attracted to someone purely over the Internet? Could it affect you so much that it influenced your daily routines? Or was it just me, once again, being silly and pathetic? I realised it had been over 3 years ago that I'd been in a relationship. I hadn't even dated anyone ever since. Were my mind and my emotions trying to tell me something? And with that it hit me. I had always been a relationship person. I didn't like one-offs, dates or short-term flings. I realised that, if I was fully honest with myself, I would like to have a special someone in my life again. Moreover, for the first time after the last three years, I realised that I felt ready again to meet someone. Was that what had been going on? Had I secretively hoped that Scott would be that _someone_? I felt relieved that I could finally admit to all these emotional ongoings, but at the same time I also felt quite pathetic. If I wanted to meet someone it was time for me to get myself out there, and not sitting in my apartment like a cavewoman. After all, it was summer holidays, so I had plenty of time. I decided to give my friend Liz a call tomorrow and see whether she was free somewhere this week to have an evening out.

It was already passed midnight, but I didn't feel tired yet. I found myself browsing through Facebook, checking out people's profiles and after, I finally got to the big friends list clean up. About 30 people got deleted. It was cigarette time and I reckoned, now that it was nearly one o'clock in the morning, time for some sleep after. One click away from closing down the Facebook tab, a chat window popped open.

"Good evening."

It was Scott. My heartbeat went from sixty beats a minute to two hundred and my apartment's temperature felt like I had the heating turned up to 50 degrees. As much as I wanted to answer though, I knew I couldn't. I clicked on the home button and I froze. Scott had changed his profile picture. Instead of a picture of the artist Deadmau5 that had been on there ever since we had become Facebook friends, he had now changed it into a picture of himself. I clicked on it and my mouth dropped open far enough to fit a Big Mac in. Oh my,… Scott looked really good. I shook my head. Whom was I kidding? Scott was hot! Not surprised Lea was into him. I stared at the picture for what seemed forever, inspecting every single inch of it. He had a beautiful face, a beautiful smile, blue eyes, dark hair and a body to die for. Although I couldn't deny his total package of hotness, it was the blue eyes and dark hair that was a killer. I've always thought that combo as extremely attractive in men.

"It was nice talking to you. Speak soon. Goodnight"

Oh no, was he upset? Being online on Facebook doesn't mean the person is actually sitting behind the computer though. I could have been in the kitchen right now making myself a cup of tea. But, in reality, I wasn't. I felt bad for ignoring him, but it was for the best; or so I thought.

I checked out his picture one more time and then closed the Internet tab and switched my computer off. After I had put on my PJs, I sat down on my padded chair and smoked a cigarette. I stared outside, but all I could see was Scott's picture that was imprinted on my brain. Having seen a picture of him made it even harder now to not talk to him. But talking to him would mean getting to know him better, which was, at this moment, Lea's job. After I had crawled into bed I took my phone to set an alarm. But instead of putting it down after, I ended up going to the App Store, downloading the Facebook application. Once it was on my phone, I logged in and scrolled through the home updates. I didn't have to scroll far before Scott profile picture appeared on my screen. I clicked on it. What was I doing? Drooling like a teenager on someone's picture. But as quickly as the thought popped in my mind, I did dismiss it. I didn't care, just looking wouldn't harm. At least no one or nothing else but my own emotions. Suddenly my phone vibrated and I heard a faint beep.

"You sure you are not there? I'm pretty sure computers can't log off and back on themselves yet. Technology hasn't developed that far yet."

I started to panic. I really didn't know what to do. I felt bad enough ignoring him a few minutes ago, but the idea that I wouldn't answer him now, simply because I didn't know how, made me feel even worse. He knew I was here. I closed my eyes and sighed. I tried to find an appropriate answer, but only to be disappointed. Feeling sickness overwhelming me, I fell asleep.

It was already three in the afternoon and I hadn't done anything else but work for school. I was reading through my last history book, searching for useful information, when my phone rang. It was Penny. "Hey Ginny! Are you ok?" "Yes, sure, why?" She sounded more concerned than she should and it confused me. Had something happened? Had I forgotten something? "Just asking." Was all she said. "How are you doing today?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just back from the shop. Have to do school run soon. Are you sure you are ok?" "Yes Penny, I am. Why? Is there a reason I shouldn't be ok?" Something wasn't right here and I just had to know. "Well," she started, "I'm actually not supposed to say something, but you are my friend and I am a little worried. I talked to Scott earlier and he told me he had tried to talk to you a few times last night on Facebook. And at first he thought you just weren't there, but then you logged off and back on, but still, you didn't reply to him and he was worried he had done or said something wrong last Sunday or that you would be upset with him for something. Oh and yeah I know about your conversation with Scott last Sunday, he told me." Two things went through my head. The first one was… shit! She knew about my conversation with Scott. I felt a bit uncomfortable. I knew she liked the idea of Lea and Scott maybe becoming a thing and I couldn't guess whether she minded me talking to him or not or even worse, whether she had told Lea about it. My second thought was about Scott. He was worried he had done or said something wrong. He was worried I was upset with him. "Oh no, I'm not upset with him or anything. The first time he talked to me I was in my kitchen making tea and without checking I just shut down my computer after. Once in bed I logged back on on my phone and I had heard the beeping sound from Facebook but I was so tired that I just fell asleep before even checking." How I hated lying to Penny. But it was a necessary lie. At least until I knew more about what she thought of the whole situation. "That's ok hunni. But I suggest you tell Scott later when he's online, because he really sounded worried." "Ok, will do." I answered. "Right, I've got to shoot now, otherwise I won't be at Mia's school in time. Speak to you tonight! Bye!" I felt relieved. Apparently Penny really was just a worried friend, both about Scott and me. I figured it would be best to visit Penny before Matt's party on Saturday, to find out some more details on the whole Scott and Lea thing. I had to know whether Lea knew about mine and Scott's conversation, before tumbling into an awkward situation with her Saturday.

Thursday early afternoon I got behind the steering wheel and drove to visit Penny. I had rung her earlier this morning and she had told me she would be back home by two in the afternoon. At a quarter past I knocked on her door. It was Will, her youngest son who opened the door for me. "Hello Will, you not at school today?" I asked, surprised to find him at home during school hours. "No," he answered, "I didn't feel well, so mum said I could stay at home." I walked through the hallway into the living room where I found Penny on her desk chair. I pulled out a chair from the dining table and seated myself next to her. I looked on her screen; she was chatting to Scott. With the best enthusiasm I could produce and a wicked grin I asked her: "How are things going between Lea and him?" nodding my head towards her computer screen. "I don't really know to be honest. Although Lea keeps telling me there is _something_ going on, every time when I talk to Scott about it he says that she is just a good friend and nothing more. I can't say whether he is just trying to hide that something is going on, or whether he is telling me the truth and it's Lea who's exaggerating a little. Because I know she is really into him, but that doesn't give her the right the spread stories which aren't true. If that's what she's doing I would be really cross with her. I know Lea now for a while, but Scott is still my best friend and I wouldn't want her to wander around making up stories about her and Scott that aren't true. And frankly I rather tend to believe Scott than Lea. It's just a gut feeling." Just a friend and nothing more, went through my head. I tried to hide my internal big ass smile. "No, indeed that really wouldn't be nice. Because she even told you last Monday they might be going on a date, didn't she?" I needed to know more. I needed to know for sure that there was absolutely nothing going on from Scott's side. "Oh no," Penny started laughing, "that is definitely not happening. Lea even tried to get Scott to come to Matt's party on Saturday, although she knew I had already invited him and she knew he couldn't come because of work." My heart was bouncing like only a bouncing ball could. This was interesting, very interesting. "Did you manage to talk to Scott yesterday evening?" Penny asked. "I didn't manage to speak to him in game, but I left him a message on Facebook and explained everything. I felt so bad, but I hope he is ok now." "I'm sure he is." Penny said with a genuine smile. She continued: "He told me about your chat with him last Sunday." "Yeah, you did mention it." I said, with probably a little too much worry in my voice. Penny smiled even wider. "Don't worry Gin, he hasn't said anything bad. Actually he quite enjoyed talking to you. He said that you had some common interests and he thought it nice that he got to know you a little bit more. Because after all the years you and me have known each other, and you have known about Scott being my friend, you had never talked to each other yet, had you?" I shook my head. We hadn't. I didn't really know how to continue this conversation, so I came up with the best I could: "He told me he does metal detecting. That sounded really interesting. I wonder whether he has ever found anything." Penny just sat there smiling. I knew she could see through me, and I wondered whether she only knew half of how much I liked him.

The next evening, seven o'clock, I was standing in front of my cupboard mirror trying to decide what to wear. Liz had agreed to an evening out tonight and I needed something I looked decent in. Liz would be here in half an hour and I still had to find an outfit, brush my hair and pretty much everything else I had to do to get ready. In the end I went for black jeans with a white top that had a tiger's head on it in grey. It was still warm outside, so a jacket wouldn't be necessary. First we would go to a little café to have something small to eat and have a drink. Later that evening Liz had chosen a nightclub not too far from here.

Liz had been my best friend for as long as I could think. Unfortunately, ever since I moved a year ago I didn't see her as often anymore, because moving had put some more distance between us. Still, it didn't matter how often we did see each other or how long we didn't see each other, as soon as we were back together it was just like old times. So, when she offered to pick the nightclub for tonight I agreed immediately. The club we were going tonight had only opened a few months ago and I had never been there before, but I trusted Liz and I knew we were going to have a fabulous time.

Half seven Liz knocked on my door. She was wearing a nice silk blue dress that ended just under her bottom; daring I thought. But why not? Neither of us had a boyfriend and I for sure was planning to go for some hunting. And by the looks of what Liz was wearing, I wasn't the only huntress tonight. I just hoped we wouldn't get disappointed.

Liz had a small lasagne accompanied by a glass of white wine and I had ordered a spaghetti Bolognese and Amaretto with orange juice; my favourite drink, for those few situations when I did consume alcohol. I rarely drank alcohol. Only on special occasions like birthdays, Christmas, New Year's Eve or on a night out which happened only once or twice a year. Although I did enjoy my drink, in general I didn't like people who drank. And by that I didn't mean those who drink just a glass once in a while, but those people who drink till they couldn't stand on their own feet no more; proper drunks. Luckily Liz thought the same about it so I never had to worry about either of us getting wasted on a night out. It was half past ten when we finally made our way to the nightclub. As we walked in I could hear 'Next To Me' from Emily Sandé playing. I liked the song and with that instantly liked the club. Hopefully they would keep playing good music, because the biggest disappointment of going out was bad music. We had found ourselves two barstools and ordered a coke and a Fanta. The first hour we just kept talking about how things were back at Liz' place and about how I was doing in my new apartment. I told her about my assignment for work and she, being a teacher too, told me about the new changes her school had made for the coming school year.

Suddenly we heard a voice behind us: "Can I buy these two beautiful ladies a drink?" We turned around and there stood a tall blond guy, looking far younger than he probably was. Reading Liz's expression I knew that this stranger was totally her type. Moreover she couldn't even get a proper word out of her mouth and so I decided to rescue her: "Yes, sure, why not." The tall man looked from Liz over to me, smiled and nodded. "What do you want to drink?" he asked, his eyes back on Liz. Come on Liz, get your shit together, I thought. She just sat next to me, drooling all over him; figuratively speaking that is. I gave her a nudge and a stare and she finally landed back on planet Earth. "A white wine please." She said her eyes still fixated on the tall blondie in front of her. He gave me a quick look and I said: "Just a coke for me please." I smiled, because it seemed like he couldn't keep his eyes off her either. Once we had our drinks he took a seat next to Liz. I smirked, because I had a feeling that this was going to turn out a great evening for her. I turned towards the bar, took a sip of my coke and looked around. Some people were dancing, some were just sitting down, chatting away or laughing. Liz was definitely having the time of her life. She was as bubbly as she was alive and laughed with nearly everything blondie said to her. After a few minutes he got up and headed for the toilets. Liz turned towards me and had the biggest smile ever on her face. "Oh my god! Isn't he hot? And have you heard his accent? I think he's Irish, but I haven't asked yet. He's here for business at the moment. He likes to travel and he loves reading too. Oh he is so perfect." She was rambling. I couldn't believe she was still breathing. "Don't forget to breathe Liz." I laughed and she joined in. "Blondie's back." I nodded his direction. "His name is Mike." she still managed to whisper quickly before she turned back towards him. I was happy for her and I didn't even mind sitting here on my own with my coke. Whilst I was deep in thought, tracing the falling water drops on my glass with my finger I felt _something_. My eyes were drawn to the left hand side of the bar, where I found a handsome looking young man sitting all by himself. Our eyes met and I gave a quick smile before staring at the water drops again. It did cost me a lot of effort, because I could feel him still looking at me. I surrendered and looked up once again. He smiled at me, then pointed at the barstool next to him and looked at me questioningly. I gave it a thought, then looked over to Liz who was obviously not going to miss me; why not. I got up, gave Liz a nudge and told her I would be back in a bit. She winked at me and I smiled at Mike as I walked by. As I reached the barstool mister handsome pulled it aside for me. "Decided to join me?" he asked. "Yes." was my brief answer accompanied by a genuine smile. I sat down and he asked me whether he could buy me a drink. I agreed and went for another Amaretto. His name was Jim. He was from Brighton and he was here to visit his sister for a few days. As he spoke of her he pointed to a tiny blond girl behind us. Halfways sitting on a young man's lap, she apparently was having the time of her life too. Jim and I just talked about everything and nothing. He was a very nice and friendly person, had a good sense of humour and knew how to entertain. It was nearly one o'clock at night when I felt my phone vibrate through my jeans. Still trying to listen to Jim's story I pulled my iPhone from my back pocket. I waited politely for Jim to finish his story before checking who had texted me. But it wasn't a text; it was a Facebook notification:

"Apology accepted, I think."

It was Scott. Almost instantly I forgot about Jim and where I was and replied:

"You think? I'm really sorry Scott, I didn't mean to upset you."

I felt the handsome young man sitting right in front of me staring at me. "It's a friend." I said apologetically. Jim nodded and started sipping his drink.

"Just kidding. Apology accepted."

"I'm happy to hear so."

"What are you up to at this time of the night?"

"Well, to be honest, at the moment I'm sitting on a barstool in a nightclub talking to a handsome young man."

Why oh why would I tell him that? What was wrong with me? Was I trying to scare him away?

"Oh, I'm sorry to disturb you then. I'll leave you to it. You enjoy your evening with mister handsome."

"You are not disturbing me at all. If I would have thought so, I wouldn't have replied."

"Like you didn't reply yesterday?"

"Hey! That's not fair."

"So you telling me that you are sitting with, I quote, a handsome young man at a nightclub and me interrupting you doesn't bother you? I feel honoured."

"So you should."

I realised I had a big smile on my face when my eyes met Jim's once again. Oh this was awkward. "Well," Jim started, "I think I'm going to get my little sister and head home. I'm pretty sure she had enough to drink and she probably won't remember me taking her home anyways. I looked over to the blond girl who tried to stand up but failed miserably. Jim and I said our goodbyes and he left. For a minute I felt bad. Jim had been nice company and if it wouldn't be for him I would still be sitting on my own, on the barstool next to Liz. But as soon I felt my phone vibrate again happiness filled my head.

"So tell me, are you enjoying your evening with mister handsome?"

"I kind of was. But he left now."

"What? He just left you there on your own?"

"Well, I'm not really on my own. I'm here with my friend Liz. But as it seems she has found herself a real catch.

But I think I'm going to head home now anyways. Speak to you in a bit when I'm back at my apartment. Unless you should be asleep by then."

"Alright. I should be still here. Drive carefully!"

"I'm here on foot. It's just around the corner from where I live, but I'll walk carefully if that makes you feel better."

I walked over to Liz and told her I was going to head home. She told Mike she would be back in a minute and walked with me to the door. "Oh Gin, I really like him. And I think he really likes me too. I think I'm going to ask him to come back home with me." "Ok Liz, but be careful, you never know. I don't want to be negative, I mean I'm really happy for you, but I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." I gave her a big hug, thanked her for the nice evening and started walking home. Once in my apartment I locked the door, threw my handbag on the bed, took off my shoes and practically ran to my computer. Come on, load faster, I thought. Once the PC was started I opened Google Chrome and logged on Facebook.

"Knock knock. You still awake?"

"Of course I am."

"Will you still be there in 5 minutes?"

"I should be, why?"

"Well I could do with a cup of tea."

"One sugar for me please."

"I'm pretty sure that by the time you would be here your tea would be having ice cubes in it."

"Haha, you go make your tea, I'll be right here waiting."

I noticed that Lea was still online. I wondered whether he was talking to her too.

"In case you get lonely, I'm pretty sure Lea would enjoy a chat with you."

No reply. Had I said the wrong thing? I felt a little insecure, but realised there was nothing I could do about it right now. I hadn't invented a time machine yet, so I couldn't change what I'd just said to him. I waited a few more seconds, hoping he would reply, but only to be disappointed. I finally got up, walked to the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea. Once I had my hands around the warm cup I sat back down on my desk chair. There was still no reply.

"Where are you?"

"I'm right here."

"And where is here?"

"At my place."

"Well, that's disappointing."

I was determined to lighten up the mood a little, because I was pretty sure my Lea comment hadn't been a good move.

"And why is that?"

"Your cup of tea is getting cold. I expected you knocking on my door like a minute ago."

"You didn't really make me a cup of tea, did you?"

"With one sugar."

"Ah how sweet of you. Now I feel bad."

"Don't feel bad, I'll just have to drink two cups now."

Again, no reply. This wasn't going as I had planned, but in the end, I was the one to blame for that.

"How was your day?"

"Yeah, not too bad. Worked most of the time. How about you? Did you enjoy your night out?"

"In some way, yes. It was nice to be out for the difference."

"How did you get on with mister handsome before my interruption?"

"Really? You asking me about my conversation with Jim? Well, if you must now, it was quite enjoyable. He was good company. But I reckon anyone would have been. Because the alternative was sitting at the bar on my own with my glass of coke, whilst my friend Liz was drooling all over a guy named Mike."

"That's not really nice of her to leave you all by yourself."

"I didn't mind, honestly. I'm happy for her she met someone. He looked like a nice guy, and she deserves a nice guy. Who knows he might be her mister perfect. She certainly already described him like that."

"And how about you?"

"What about me?"

"Is there a mister perfect in your life?"

"No, unfortunately there isn't. And you? Is there a misses perfect in your life?"

"No, there isn't. But there is someone who seems to be very interesting."

"Oh, is that so. Well I hope for you that you find everything you are looking for in her."

"Thank you, that's very sweet, but actually it's a _him_."

"Well, then I hope you find everything you are looking for in him."

Scott gay? Really? I couldn't believe it. Penny had never mentioned anything. Maybe she didn't know either? It definitely clarified why Lea was just a friend to him.

"Ginny, I'm joking. Haha! I'm all for the women, without a doubt."

"Oh wait, wait,… Haha! You are so funny. Sense the sarcasm."

"I know right?"

"But ok, it was nice chatting to you Scott, but I think it's time for me to get some sleep. It's Matt's party tomorrow and I still need to wrap his presents and I promised Penny to be there a bit earlier than all the rest."

"It was nice talking to you too. You definitely are good company."

"Why thank you. But so are you. Which I proved by talking to you on Facebook instead of continuing my conversation with that guy in the nightclub earlier."

"I repeat: I am honoured."

"Goodnight Scott."

"Sleep tight Ginny."

My day couldn't have ended any better. After my bedtime cigarette I crawled into bed and recalled the whole evening. I couldn't find a single flaw. The café was nice and cosy and the nightclub had a perfect atmosphere. Liz had gotten herself a good looking man called Mike and I spent my night talking to a handsome young man, before I got interrupted by the even better looking Scott. Lying comfortable in bed, I opened Facebook on my phone to have one last look at Scott's profile picture, feeling my heart picking up the speed, before falling asleep.


End file.
